dbroach's blog

As I have been thinking about this the last couple weeks, I find myself in two veins of thought. First, I see tremendous optimism that “we’re almost there!” I see the value of optimism in a feild of exploration. If our brightest minds felt that their dreams might never be realized in their lifetime, it might curb their passion and motivation. I feel that technology has advanced as quickly as it has because of some very optimistic dreamers. So I want to encourage their optimism… and their passion.

But the second vein of thought I find myself on is fairly pessimistic. I see hurdles that our optimistic friends have perhaps not yet identified. I see their current course of research and trial and error, and I recognize that once they get over that hurdle, there is a much larger one ahead. I love to hike, and one frustration/joy of hiking is believing that when you crest this hill, you have indeed reached the summit, only to find a larger hill ahead. This roller coaster of hope then disappointment is frustrating, but once you reach the summit… it’s all worth it.

I have enjoyed this thought exercise, but find no reason to be concerned as I look to the future. I’m fascinated by the developments made, and I look forward to following their advances in the future.

Yet another CSIT 1110 assignment that I’m really getting into. Creating a web page by hand-coding HTML. For some reason there is something specifically gratifying in doing this by hand. I’ve played around with Dreamweaver before, not having a clue what I was doing. But even this most basic understanding of HTML has turned on a lot of light bulbs from my Dreamweaver experiences. I’m pretty excited to someday get back into Dreamweaver armed with some new insight and understanding.

This assignment was fairly difficult for me. I struggled with the syntax of the VALUE statement and where to place it to get it loaded into RAM. With a bit of trial and error, I finally finished the problem of counting from 100 to 1. My first attempt at going from 1 to 100, I couldn’t figure out how to stop at 100. Needless to say I locked up my browser the first time. Finally, I got it, and was a little proud of myself. This wasn’t easy for me. But it reminded me of my programs I used to write on the Commodore 64 we had when I was a kid. It does really help me with perspective on the gap between natural language and assembly language. Great learning tool!

I chose the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 as my processor, not necessarily because of current capabilities of quad core technologies, but because of future capabilities. The motherboard I chose is the Intel DG45ID mostly because of the 12GB of level 2 cache. Based on the mATX form factor, I would put it in the Thermaltake VI5000BNS WingMA Case with an Ultra LSP750 750-Watt Power Supply and an additional 120mm case fan. I would cool the CPU with an Ultra X-Wind Socket 775 Copper CPU Cooling Fan and get 4GB (or more) of Corsair XMS2 PRO Dual Channel PC6400 DDR2 800MHz E.P.P. Memory. Next I would get a Western Digital WD1001FALS Hard Drive and a Panasonic SW-4583-CNC7 Blu Ray/ DVD/CD Drive and the SATA cables to connect the drives. The video and audio integrated into the motherboard gives me the flexibility to upgrade these components later.

To build the  computer, I would start by protecting the components from ESD by working on a grounding mat or wearing a grounded wrist strap. I would begin with the motherboard on the table to  install the CPU. Making sure to have the processor correctly aligned, I would install the CPU chip and lock it down. Next I would take the X-Wind CPU fan and apply the thermal paste, then secure it to the motherboard, and making sure to plug in the power connector. Next I would install one DIMM in channel A, DIMM 0; and the other in channel B, DIMM 0. Then I would set the motherboard aside. Next I would take the case, and install the power supply and second case fan. Then I would probably go ahead and install the hard drive and the CD/DVD/Blu Ray drive. Before I install the motherboard, I need to remove the motherboard knockout from the case and install the I/O shield included with the motherboard. Next, I would put the motherboard in the case, securing it to the standoffs with screws. Finally, I would begin attaching the cables, beginning with the internal headers, such as power switches, HDD lights, USB, etc. Next, I would connect the power supply to the motherboard, case fans and drives. finally, I would connect the drives to the motherboard with the SATA cables. Now I would attach a monitor, keyboard and mouse, and connect the power supply to the mains. Next I can power on the computer to allow it to perform it’s first POST, then enter CMOS setup to verify all hardware has been found. Next I would insert the OS media into the CD/DVD drive and begin the process of formatting the hard drive, creating partitions, and installing the OS. Once the OS is installed and everything appears to be working correctly, I would shut down the computer, disconnect the power from the mains, and tidy up all the cables inside the case. Finally I would close up the case, and my new computer would be finished. That was fun!

In my A+ Software class, Mr. Negahban attempted to explain binary to us and I left the class really confused. But I didn’t panic, because Dr. Brown had mentioned last week that we would be getting into binary this week. I feel really good about it now. I know that I will never need to program in binary, but I tend to want to understanding things inside and out, top to bottom. So understanding that everything that I am typing on this blog is being converted to a zero or a one — or more specifically to voltage present or not… it’s pretty cool. I can wrap my head around that. But then again I am a bit of a geek.

My name is Daniel Roach, and the first time I touched a computer was when my parents bought a TRS-80 in the mid 80’s. We could never get it to work right, so my parents “upgraded” to a Commodore 64. We read the manual to learn how to program the screen to display solid colors, or multiple bars of color, or even audio tones. Then I worked with an Apple II and an IBM running Word Perfect in high school and college. Then in 1995, I bought by first PC, a Packard Bell Pentium 60 mHz from Sears for $2000. I was hooked, but it’s taken me another 15 years to decide to pursue higher education in the industry.